Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-10-08


slopes. TO wac and die one by one like the
stars they Iesernhled, as the hours wore on
and the Silence gradually gathered more
deeply cyt. the opposing hosts.
1t wrs very wearying night, for in I'D
dillon - the endless things that had been
seen e., there was our gnawins suspense TO
recho.l with. The fray which tomorrow
woUid witness would be 30 vast, and the
&. u liter SO awful, that stout, indeed, must
tao heart have been Tat vGs not over
whelfnei at the prospect-
The time wore away tai everything was
ready Tor the coming slaughter; and
tay down and thought, and tried to get
little rest.
And at last up came the red sun, and the
nugc camps owoke with clash and O roar,
and gathered themselves together for battle.
1t was beautiful and awe inspiring scene,
and old U.ls,opogaas, leaning on his az,
contempln led it with grim delight.
"Never nave l seen tie like, Macumazahn,
never,n le said. "The battles of my people
are as tie play of children to what this will
be ,.hinkess thou that they will fight it
outls
aAy,p l answered sadly, ito the death.
Content myself, .Woodpecker,' for once shalt
thou find thy FILL"
Time went on, and still there was no sign
of an attack. A force Of cavalry crossed
the brook, indeed, and rode slowly along our
front, evidently taking stock of our position
and numbers. With this we did not attempt
to interfere, as our decision was TO stand
strictly on the defensive, and not to waste
single man. The men breakfasted and stood
20 their arms, and the hours wore on About
midday, when the men were eating their
dinner, for we thought they would fight bet
ter on full stomachs, a shout Of .Scfais,
Sorais," arose like thunder from the enemy's
extreme right, and taking the glass, was
able to clearly distinguish the Lady Of the
Night herself, surrounded by glittering
staff, and riding slowly down the lines of her
battalions. And as she went, that mighty,
laundering shout rolled along before her like
the rolling of 10000 chariots or the roaring
of the ocean when the gale turns suddenly
and carries tho noise OF it to the listeners
ears, till the earth shook, and the air was full
of the majesty of sound.
Guessing that this was prelude to the be-
ginning of the battle, we remained still and
made ready.
We had not long to wait Suddenly, like
flame from. cannon's mouth, out shot two
great tongue like forces Of cavalry, and came
charging down the slope towards the little
stream, slowly at first, but gathering speed
as they came. Before they got to the stream.
orders reached me from Sir Henry, who evil
deutly feared that the shock Of such charge,
il allowed to fall unbroken upon our in
fa1try, would be too much for them, to send
fivs thousand sabers to meet the force op-
posite to me, at the moment when it began to
mount the stiffest of the rise about four
hundred yards from our lines. This did, re-
naming behind myself with the rest Of my
men.
or went the 1000 horsemen, drawn up in
a wedgelike form, and ! must say that the
general in command handled them very ably.
Starting at q hand gallop for the. first 800
yards, he rode straight at the tip OF the
tongue. shaped mass of cavalry which, num-
bering, so far as could judge, about eight
thousand sabers wa advancing TO meet us.
Then he suddenly swerved to the right and
put ON the pace, and saw the great wedge
curl round, and before the foe could check
himself and turn to meet it, strike him about
half way down his length with a crashing,
rending sound, like the breaking up OF vast
sheets of ice. In sank the great wedge into
his heart, and as it cut its way hundreds OF
horsemen were thrown up on either side OF 1t,
Just as the earth is thrown up by plow-
share, or, more like still, as the foaming water
curls over beneath the bows Of a rushing
ship. In, yet in, vainly does the tongue twist
its ends round in agony, like an injured snake,
and strive to protect its center; still farther
in, by Heavenl right through, and so, amid
cheer after cheer from our watching thous-
ands, back again upon the severed ends, beat
ing them down, driving them as gale drives
spray, till at last, amid the rushing of hun
dreds Of riderless horses, the flashing OF
swords, and the victorious clamor of their
pursuers, the great force crumples up like an
empty glove, then turns and gallops pell mel
for safety back to its own lines.
| do not think it reached them more than
two-thirds as strong as it went out ten min
utes before. The lines which were now ad-
vancing to the attack opened and swallowed
them up, and my force returned, having suf-
fered loss of only about five hundred men
not much, thought, considering the fierce
ness Of the struggle. / could also see that the
opposing bodies Of cavalry on our left wing
were drawing back, but how the fight went
with them ! do not quite know. 1t is as
much MS can do to describe what took place
Immediately around me.
BY this time the immense masses of the en-
emy's left, composed almost entirely Of Mas
tas swordsmen, were across the little stream,
and with alternate yells of ssNasta" and $50
rails" with dancing banners and cleaning
swords were swarming up toward us like
ants
Again received orders to try and check
this movement and also the main advance
against the chest of our army, by means OF
cavalry charges, and this did to the best of
my ability by continually sending squadrons
of about thousand sabers out against them.
These squadrons did the enemy much dam
age, and it was glorious sight to SEQ them
flash down the hillside and bury themselves
like living knife in the heart OF the foe.
But, also, we lost many men, for after the ex-
perience of G couple OF these charges, which
had drawn sort of bloody ST. Andrews
cross of dead and dying through the center OF
Nasta's hosts, our foes no longer attempted to
offer an unyie.dizg front to their irresistible